276 replies to this topic

[zippypoodle]

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The episode started so strong and fell off the tracks so hard, it's a shame. It really is turning more and more into a story inspired by the books more so than trying to adapt them faithfully. I was hoping that season 2 would try to be at least as faithful as season 1 if not more so, but it seems the opposite is the case.

Once again, I completely disagree. No changes of any true relevance, especially not enough to justify a claim that its becoming merely inspired by the books.

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none of the major changes were for the better in my eyes.

Other than the dragon theft, there weren't any major changes. And I'm confident that will turn out for the best.

[Michaelj]

I don't like the guys who do analysis on this site. They are too much of book purists... I will read my reviews on ign, perfect 10 and I agree!

[extravadanza]

i am confused, is talisa supposed to be jeyne westerling? and if so can any1 explain the deviation?!?!

[akajea]

The killing of Amory Lorch was a great idea, although a bit poorly executed. They needed a way to expend Arya's second kill on someone worthless without leaving people scratching their heads wondering why she didn't kill Tywin. It succeeded in this regard.

The problem however is that she ran through a crowded courtyard being chased by a knight, and got away with it. Another problem is that Amory dropped dead in Tywin's room, most likely carrying the letter. They exchanged a completely unbelievable situation, for an only slightly unbelievable situation.

Anyway, it worked well enough. Looking forward to her third name.

Edited by akajea, 07 May 2012 - 12:27 AM.

[Ser Robin Hill]

I gave it a 10, though Dany is beginning to annoy me...and far earlier than she started annoying me in the books.

Michaelj, on 07 May 2012 - 12:08 AM, said:

I don't like the guys who do analysis on this site. They are too much of book purists... I will read my reviews on ign, perfect 10 and I agree!

Reviewing the reviews?  What will they think of next?

[_Oberyn_]

9. Liked the Jons new scenes. And the Spice-king serves a lovely humble pie

[gramblor]

9 - I think I just fell in love with Rose Leslie

[NW Deserter]

Gave it a 9, with a point lost because of some of the Dany stuff. Not the plot derivations, because her dragons getting stolen is actually pretty interesting, and will give her a legitimate reason to go to the HotU. What bothered me was her whining to the spice king guy. I feel like every time TV-Dany is built back up to be this strong woman, they give her some monologue where she re-hashes the same "fire and blood" threats with a cracking voice. The "no ordinary woman" bit was probably one of the most painful set of lines on the show so far.

But there was a TON of good to outweigh that annoying scene:

• All the winterfell stuff was absolutely perfect. Alfie Allen continues to show off his acting chops week after week, and the death of Ser Rodrick was brilliantly done.
  
• The KL riot was about how I imagined it. Badass of the Week goes to The Hound this time around for those kills, that was Khal Drogo-level shit!
  
• Add another name to the list of spot-on castings in Ygritte! I'm curious how they'll do Jon's stuff now. I think the most likely scenario is to have him release her next episode right before he meets back up with the rest of the NW crew. This will allow for some good interaction between them (as we've already seen) while still keeping the integrity of the plot - that way, when she and Rattleshirt and the rest of the wildlings find Jon and Qhorin, the viewers (and Jon) will clearly remember who that red-headed wildling is.
  
• Robb's stuff was decent. The Talissa character is still perplexing me, but that's made up for by us learning that Ramsay does indeed exist in TV-Westeros. I am slightly worried that non-readers will have no idea who Roose Bolton is, as I don't think they've even said his name and he's only appeared briefly before this episode.
  
• Arya stuff was all gold. Not much else to say. The plot changes here are keeping the spirit of the books while involving characters we actually know fairly well by now instead of random throw-aways.

Looks like next week we'll get even more meat - I'm thinking House of the Undying, Jaime getting freed, Tyrion's chain, and maybe the orphan boys getting killed. Pumped!

[Haymaker]

I loved this episode, best of the season for sure due to the opening 10 min, the riots, and the introduction of Ygritte!  Gave it only a 9 because the second half didn't have me emotionally as high as the first half, but still great. (Probably would give it a 9.5 if it were an option)   Also, I liked the Jaqen 2nd kill, because it's a good setup for explaining why she doesn't use her wishes on big players like Jofferey or Cersei (which is all I heard about last week with the tickler pick) because she kind of squanders the 1st one and has no choice on this 2nd one.  Plus it highlights Jaqen's bad ass skills!  With this perspective it didn't come off completely comical to me like its seem to have with other.

Michaelj, on 07 May 2012 - 12:08 AM, said:

I don't like the guys who do analysis on this site. They are too much of book purists...

I do agree with you although knowing this I still keep coming back to read their reactions.  But to them and other book purists, you know the story from the book and that will never change regardless of what the TV show does, so just go with the flow and you'll enjoy the show's take more. Todd VanDerWerff's review over on AV Club is a good read for this episode.  He discussing the novel-to-screen adaptation of this series and with this episode in particular very well.

[Direwolf Lager]

7/10. enjoyed the riot in King's Landing scene and the mention of the Bastard of Bolton

[The Greenseer]

A solid 9. Now we're cooking with gas. In previous episodes the story deviations bothered me and were not convincing. This episode however, handled all of the deviations believably. The acting/directing was even better.  Plot lines should be easier to follow for non readers.

Loved the shock of the opening sack of winterfell, and the pathetic portrayal of theon.
Ygritte is awesome, almost exactly as I picture her.
We got a bonus Joff slap!
Like the dragon thieving, it always seemed like something that would have happened.
Tywin/Arya scenes give us dome more insight into the Tywin character, plus he's possibly the best actor on the show.

Solid. This was the best show of the season so far.

[The Greenseer]

A solid 9. Now we're cooking with gas. In previous episodes the story deviations bothered me and were not convincing. This episode however, handled all of the deviations believably. The acting/directing was even better.  Plot lines should be easier to follow for non readers.

Loved the shock of the opening sack of winterfell, and the pathetic portrayal of theon.
Ygritte is awesome, almost exactly as I picture her.
We got a bonus Joff slap!
Like the dragon thieving, it always seemed like something that should have happened.
Tywin/Arya scenes give us dome more insight into the Tywin character, plus he's possibly the best actor on the show.

Solid. This was the best show of the season so far.

[BoldAsYouPlease]

Ran, on 06 May 2012 - 03:54 PM, said:

What'd you think?

6/10. The crowd riot scene was good, as was Sandor's rescue of Sansa, though the show's actors are all apparently allergic to horses - it was strange that a royal entourage would walk through crowded, rough neighborhoods on foot. The Tywin/Arya scenes continue to impress, though the implausibility factor continues to grow, with Tywin promoting his unknown child prisoner from cupbearer to personal confidante. Amory Lorch falling on his face in front of Tywin with a brightly colored blow-dart sticking out of his neck was silly and needless. The actor playing Theon was quite good. The scenery north of the Wall was again beautiful.

The Dany scenes are uniformly bad. The Dany character relentlessly issues loud, shrill and empty threats. She does not act like a girl who has been on the run her entire life but instead like an entitled, empty-headed brat - in the books it took until ADwD for her to get this annoying. Bran's hysteria and Myrcella's tears were appropriate reactions for modern American kids, not for the children of nobility in a medieval world. Why didn't Qhorin and the other rangers catch up with Jon and Ygritte? They didn't get that far.

All in all, an equal mix of good and bad for me - some interesting parts, but not interesting overall.

[The Greenseer]

BoX, on 06 May 2012 - 10:22 PM, said:

worst episode ever!

Really? I'd love to know what you are watching that is better. Especially in the fantasy genre...

[Eira Seren]

Gave this one an 8.  It seemed to drop off after the first half, and I liked it less than last episode.  The only scene I really disliked was the Dany scene where she begs the Spice King for ships. . . . she seems perfectly able to negotiate with the other characters in Qarth, but for some reason always loses her skills when talking with this one.  why?  the Spice King stole that scene.  Am also a little glad that someone stole the dragons.  now maybe she'll wake up.

i couldn't even concentrate on the dialogue between Tywin and Littlefinger, could only watch Arya!  So well orchestrated.

loved the winterfell takeover and the riot.  the slap was incredibly satisfying, and Joff's incredible arrogance was even better.  really think the choice to cut Lollys and have Sansa be the focus of much of the danger made that scene far more powerful, especially when the Hound saves her.  And nobody upstaging her this time.

wondering if they are planning to keep Halfhand around.  have to laugh, though. my dad keeps observing that for a bunch of guys out in the cold, most of the NW aren't smart enough to wear a hat.  of course not, this would mess up Jon's hair

[rmholt]

Another 9. PLeased to see someone finally got a camera on Hound's scars.  Ygritte looks - not as I expected. Not excited but it's early  Glad they kept the scene of Theon trying to lop off someone's head and botching it up -

Guess the horses of the bread riots were sacrificed for Blackwater.

I enjoyed the cow pie on Joffrey's head.

Tywin is too familiar with Arya but then he never had a pixie-ish daughter before.

Is that note she lifted legible to any of you?

Marie

[SFA-OK]

Theon continues to do a great job. The riot scene seemed generic and cheesy. What's the deal with Littlefinger showing up everywhere? How many times was Dany called "Little Princess" by the Frank Black look-alike? Seemed like it was about 20. I don't even know what the hell is going on with that part of the story, not very interesting or coherent.

The actor portraying Twyin is doing a great job, even though I'm not a big fan of some of the recent scenes he's been in.

[Eira Seren]

rmholt, on 07 May 2012 - 02:01 AM, said:

Another 9. PLeased to see someone finally got a camera on Hound's scars.  Ygritte looks - not as I expected. Not excited but it's early  Glad they kept the scene of Theon trying to lop off someone's head and botching it up -

Guess the horses of the bread riots were sacrificed for Blackwater.

I enjoyed the cow pie on Joffrey's head.

Tywin is too familiar with Arya but then he never had a pixie-ish daughter before.

Is that note she lifted legible to any of you?

Marie

thought i noticed something on the note about Stark moving his camp?  made me wonder then, when Talisa/Jeyne made that comment about being a spy.

[Direwolf Lager]

too much change from ACoK to make this episode extra dramatic.. however the visuals still look great and its pretty much what i expected HBO to do

[Francisco R. Fonseca]

This was the best so far, I  gave it a 10! I  liked how a lot happened, but at the same time it gave us book fans some surprises likes the Dothraki's who got murdered & dragon's kidnapped. I'm really enjoying that aspect of it as well. I loved Jaqen doing his thing and Sandor kicking some serious ass. That event and scenes were ones I was really waiting to see. Also I liked seeing Theon and Bran, poor Rodrik! And last but not least Ygrette was so fun to watch and very close to how I pictured her.